Diabetic patient invents glucose monitor kit

About the solution

This is something to which few Type 1 diabetics in Britain have access – the monitors cost around £4,000 a year to buy and maintain and are too expensive for the NHS.
“I now have more information about my condition, so I better understand what I am doing. I feel more in control – and that is a massive improvement,” he says.

Tim decided to create his own glucose monitor because he was tired of waiting for the pharmaceutical and medical device companies to come up with new, affordable ways to improve the lives of diabetic patients, he has taken matters into his own hands. So he bought an old continuous glucose monitor (CGM) from the internet and used his skills as an IT specialist to re-engineer it so that it communicates, via a self-built Tic Tac box receiver he keeps in his pocket, with his mobile phone and his smartwatch – something even the full-price version will not do. The total annual cost is about £1,000. With a couple of taps on the screen, his blood glucose level is displayed as a graph.

“Diabetes is all about managing your data – on medication, food and blood glucose,” says Omer. “Current tools are not up to the job and I struggle to keep up. We need help.” His next goal is to obtain an automatic calculation of the amount of insulin he needs, based on his glucose level and other factors, as a step towards creating an artificial pancreas. He has teamed up with the charity Great Britain Diabetes Online Community to bring his findings to a wider audience.

“My aim is to publish my work, and others’, so as many people as possible can benefit. If you try to commercialise [your own products], you run up against all sorts of regulatory barriers,” he says.

This solution shall not include mention to the use of drugs, chemicals or biologicals (including food); invasive devices; offensive, commercial or inherently dangerous content. This solution was not medically validated. Proceed with caution! If you have any doubts, please consult with a health professional.

About the author

Tim Omer, 31, from UK, is diabetic. He built a monitoring kit himself, re-using a Tic Tac box. From the box, a sensor runs under his skin, delivering a readout of his blood glucose level to his mobile phone.